Secret Darkness
by Anna Maxwell and Chase Yuy
Summary: Remus gets injured while he's in his werewolf form and Sirius is approached by a strange individual who says he knows of a cure for his best friend's curse... Can Sirius believe him or is it all just a wild goosechase? Marauder's era R&R people!
1. Chapter 1

**The Secret Darkness**

**Anna Maxwell and Chase Yuy**

A.N: Okay! This would be our first HP fanfic as I (Chase) am a little slow on the uptake and have not read the books up until now. I'm currently reading them. Loving them. Yeah, I know, one more trend I follow, but not to be popular, I promise. Their just that bloody good. Anyway... Have fun kiddows and enjoy!

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The sun was setting by the time Remus was trying his best to get out of the dorms. He felt sick... It was setting quicker, wasn't it? He could feel the moon rising and his head spin. The door behind him clicked and he heard footsteps coming towards him. He should have left hours ago...

"Remus! What are you still doing here?" Sirius Black demanded in a whisper. He glanced out the window of the Gryffindor common room and frowned at the red glow coming in the window. "We haven't got much time."

"I hadn't noticed..." the smaller man gasped sarcastically. He felt Sirius' arm wrap around him to pull him upright and he leaned into his friend. "It's draining me," he murmured. "It's never done this before."

Sirius' dark eyes regarded his friend carefully. His frown deepened as he noticed how pale Remus was, more so than usual, at any rate. "Come on, then. No homework for you tonight." He directed them towards the picture hole.

"I don't think they'll take my excuse," the werewolf said as he stumbled.

"Well, you're ahead of it anyway. You're a disgusting over-achiever. It's almost unforgivable." Sirius replied, catching him easily and pulling him through the hole and into the hallway. "Ah, damn, the stairs." he grumbled.

Remus clung tightly. "The sun'll be down any minute," he murmured. "I could kill you and never know difference... the potions in the shack."

"We'd best hurry along, then, hadn't we? I'd hate for you to be left to explain why I suddenly turned into confetti." Sirius pulled the Invisibility Cloak out of his satchel and draped it over them. "Wouldn't do for Filch to find us." He quickened their pace. They had to make it to the grounds.

"Does James know you have it?"

"Errr...he won't mind if I borrow it for a bit." Sirius hedged, ignoring the look Remus gave him. "What? It's not like he's supposed to have it either."

Remus managed a small smile. "Good point." They hit the last step and Remus stumbled forward, dragging Sirius with him. The smaller man gave a sharp, bit off cry and he felt his friend pull him closer. Filch's footsteps sounded around them, but from where they couldn't tell.

Sirius quickly pulled them against the wall and pulled Remus tightly against him. He forced himself to breathe softly. Merlin's beard...of all the times for Filch to be poking about... He peered through the cloak at one of windows...they did not have time for this.

Remus groaned slightly, trying his best to keep quiet. "We have to go," he managed through clenched teeth.

Sirius reached slowly into his robes and pulled out his wand. It was an awkward angle underneath the cloak, but he managed to aim it at a door down the hall and whisper, "Alohamora!" Filch automatically turned at the click and head that way. Sirius pulled Remus up and pulled them into a brisk walk. They made it to the doors and slipped out.

And the moonlight hit. Remus collapsed onto the ground, arms wrapped around himself. His cry broke the still, quiet night air.

Sirius cursed aloud. He had a good two minutes, maybe, before the transformation was complete. He scooped the agonized boy into his arms and ran, dropping the cloak in the process. He ran as fast as he could, which as any teacher who tried to give him detention knew, was extremely fast. He liked to think it was related to his Animangus form, but whatever it was, it was about to get him into the forest before all of Hogwarts found out Remus was a werewolf.

His scream echoed through the forest and Remus began trying to push away. "Let go," he whimpered.

"No." Sirius growled. "The further in we get the safer you'll be. The closer to the shack we get, the closer we are to the potion. There's time, there's time..."

"I'll... kill you... I can't..." He struggled against his friend and landed on the ground with his growing werewolf strength.

Dark hair fell in his eyes as Sirius bent and grabbed Remus' hand. He met the golden gaze head on. "I trust you." he whispered. He yanked Remus up and into a run again. They still weren't far enough in. Remus was still in danger...

Remus' eyes went wide and he stopped still, causing Sirius to stumble. They were round and gold, the last hint of humanity hiding within them. "Please go," he murmured. "Can't... hold it off..."

"What's all the noise out there?" a voice called from the edge of the forest.

"Run." Sirius whispered. "Run, as fast as you can, you can't be caught, Remus."

Remus nodded slowly. He'd make it to the shack. To the potion... Then he'd come back to give them a scare. It would save them both if all worked to plan. It was the only possibility they had. He took off as fast as he could as his hair lengthened and he felt himself slipping away. Why was he running again? The potion...? Who needed it anyway? It was such a trivial thing. Why would a werewolf give into petty human desires to keep that soul of his?

_No!_ he told himself. He had to save Sirius! He dove down under the Womping Willow and stumbled down the stairs.

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Sirius leaned heavily against a tree and sucked in deep breaths. He turned his face towards the sky, black and endless above him except for the moon, the damn moon which hung there as if to mock him. He'd thought the moon was pretty once, nice to look at. Now it was another enemy. His list seemed to be growing.

"Sirius Black! I should have known!" a voice growled from the trees. He was the head boy at the Slytherian house and he thought that he was the head of all the dorms. It was much to his glee that he'd found Gryffindor's most trouble-making student out and about after dark. Not that he was really supposed to be out, but if he came back hauling Black, Filch surely would let it pass.

"Get out of here." Sirius snapped. "I don't need hassels from the likes of you right now."

"And all I need to do is haul you in to Filch. What the hell are you doing out here anyway, Black?"

"Oooh, cursing now, are we, Snape? Think that makes you more impressive? I guess for you every little bit counts, doesn't it?"

The Slytherin's eyes narrowed. "You're pushing it, Black," he growled as he reached out to take hold of Sirius' collar. He stopped dead when he heard a growl from the woods.

Sirius froze, calculating the time in his head. There was no way Remus could have gotten to the shack and back that quickly, which meant..."Run!" he hissed. "Snape, go!"

"I won't be fooled by you," the dark haired boy hissed.

Sirius grabbed him by the collar of his robes and shoved him into a tree trunk. "Damn you, get it through your thick head that I'm not playing with you!" He violently shoved the other boy away. "Now get!"

Golden eyes appeared with a howl echoing throught the forest and Snape gasped. "A werewolf...?" His eyes turned sharply on Sirius. "Lupin."

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A/N: Bum Bum Bum! Oh, by the way, before anyone starts saying "but the potion isn't invented yet!" This is oh so very slightly AU. So yeah... Stay tuned for more! Keep in mind Anna and I are both University students and we have crazy scheduals. Beware of this and don't yell about postings! DON'T YELL!

Ahem... Anywho. Please review! We're addicts! It gets us through the day...

AM & CY


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

A/N: Okay, this is the second part of what we wrote last night. I was too tired to edit it all last night, so here's the rest. Please let us know how it is!

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Sirius' dark eyes were usually warm with life and humor, but as he turned his gaze on Snape they were icy and almost murderous. "I swear to you, if you say anything to anybody, I will kill you."

Snape looked almost shaken by this. So he was right. It was Lupin. "It's so blaringly obvious," he stammered. "He's gone every month... once a month without fail. For as long as he's been at Hogwarts... The whole school should know by now or their all dimmer than I thought!"

A dark grin spread over Sirius' face. "And you're right there with them." He lunged forward. "Now run!"

Snape felt himself stumble forward and being dragged along with the slightly taller Sirius. His eyes fell on the werewolf coming at them and he began to keep up. "Why on earth are we heading further into the woods?" he demanded at last.

"Because we can't lead him back to the school, and guess what, oh ingenious one, he doesn't turn back until morning!"

"Why not lead him back to the school? They'll do something about it!"

"Are you a complete moron? They can't do anything because there's nothing to be done! There is no cure for this! "

"There's something that cures everything," Snape sneered.

"Well, I could kill you and cure your idiocy."

"Death _is_ the cure for everything," the Slytherin hissed.

Sirius opened his mouth to retort when he stopped short, causing the other boy to run into him.

"Thinking about taking me up on my idea?"

"Shut up!" he whispered harshly, turning in a half circle. He couldn't see anything, and he couldn't hear anything. That bothered him.

"Lose your pathetic-" Severus Snape's snide remark was cut off as one huge werewolf paw smashed into him, sending him flying. He hit a tree with a sickening thud and slid down it. His vision swam.

"I almost wish I could feel sorry for you." Sirius murmured. He turned to face the beast -his friend- that had surprised him. "Now, Remus, that wasn't very nice."

The creature before him might have been Remus earlier that evening, but it's golden eyes held none of the gentle humour that his best friend's did. These were out for blood.

"Mmmm. Okay then. Running." Sirius turned and fled towards the shack. He knew Remus would follow him, because his scent would stand out to the werewolf more than Snape's would.

Follow Remus did. He was hot on Sirius' heels by the time the formerly-taller boy dove into the entrance to the Shrieking Shack.

Sirius slammed the door shut as claws ripped through it a second later. He staggered backwards and half climbed half fell up the stairs. He stopped at the top to wonder what the hell he was doing. He didn't even know if the potion would work post transformation, and even if it could, how in the world was he supposed to get Remus to take it?

He shook his head in frustration. He'd find out when he got to it. That was that and Remus broke through the door and caused the other Marauder to all but fly up the stairs.

He grabbed the vial and stood there. He had nowhere to run, so the only choice was to face Remus' demons for him.

The werewolf in question appeared before him, snarling in all of his fury. Sirius steadied himself as his friend rushed him. It was the last possible second when he leapt into the air, landing so that he was straddling the werewolf's back, potion in hand.

Remus was fairly uncooperative. He thrashed and clawed at the prey /Sirius/ on his back. Sirius saw his opening, and shoved the vial into Remus' mouth, just as one of the werewolf's paws caught him in the side.

Remus sunk to the ground, his body beginning to shrink into its wolf-form. Just as it began, the room filled with a strong light and he was thrown into the far wall, a yelp of pain escaping him.

Sirius looked up, his eyes hazy as he clutched his side. "Don't..." he gasped.

Snape stood with his head held high, obviously pleased with himself and the injured Remus that lay perfectly still on the other side. "He was about to kill you," he said as if it excused everything.

"He...wouldn't...damn you," Sirius struggled to stand and make his way to his fallen friend.

The rising sun's light shifted so that it shown through the window. Had they spent the entire night in the chase? It certainly hadn't felt like it... Remus let out a painful moan as his body shifted and formed back into a human. His eyes blinked open and he curled into a ball, pain searing every rational thought. "Sirius," he gasped, reaching a hand out. His fingers opened and closed almost convulsively as he managed to get his friend's name through clenched teeth once more.

Sirius made it to him and collapsed at his side, taking his fingers in his own. "I'm right here. You made it though." he murmured.

"You're hurt!" Remus gasped, forcing his own pain aside. "Oh, Sirius... Did I...?"

The rugged teen grinned. "Naw. Some nasty trees out there."

"Trees don't do that," the small boy said, his voice shaking. "I'm so sorry, Sirius... I..." He looked up. "Snape!"

The Slytherin crossed his arms. "Aren't you perceptive."

"Then you know...? You can't tell! Please, Severus! You can't tell anyone what you've seen tonight!"

"And why shouldn't I? Not only are you an unregistered werewolf, you've attacked two students tonight."

Fear welled up within the young teen. "Please, Severus! You know how werewolves are looked on! They'll throw me out of Hogwarts... I'll never have a place to go!" He stood up, unsteady on his feet and stumbling, but made his way over to Snape and collapsed before him. "Please..." he murmured softly, his strength leaving him with the blood that was pooling beneath him. How had he gotten that wound anyway?

"Don't beg him for anything." Sirius snarled. "I already warned you what would happen if you told anyone what you saw."

"And you think I believe you?" Snape scoffed. "That'd make you a murderer. Even you wouldn't go that far. They'd throw you in Azkaban."

Sirius stood with surprising ease and the grin of a predator crossed his face. "Only if I got caught."

Snape glared, but then his face changed. A twisted smirk crossed his twisted face. He put his wand against Remus' bowed head. "Don't move, Black, or he'll get more than a small wound."


End file.
